My name is Tyler McClure (a.ka. fawlingfeatherz), and I took this photo in southwestern Washington, USA at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge.
I noticed this heron hunting in a grassy field and figured I would wait for it to wander close and possibly snag a shot of it feeding on a small mammal. The bird noticed something, aimed, and struck. I was surprised when it came up with this garter snake and also with how ferociously the snake fought back.
I managed to capture this split second stare-down before the chaos ensued using a Canon 5D Mark iii equipped with a Canon 600mm f/4 lense with settings set at ISO 700 and shutter speed at 2000